flacon

Forms

flacon m (plural flacons)^[1] Old French flascon.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French flascon, inherited from Late Latin flascō (“bottle, wine vessel”), recorded in the 6th century in Gregory of Tours.^[2][3][4] The Late Latin word is derived from flasca, which Isidore of Seville describes as a case first made to carry glass vessels and later used for wine;^[4][5] it is from Proto-West Germanic *flaska (“wicker-covered bottle”).^[2][4][6] Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF see the modern form as an alteration of the older one.^[4][7]

The Germanic word gave Old High German flasca and German Flasche.^[2][4] From the Late Latin feminine came Old French flasche (“a kind of bottle”) (about 1200).^[2][4] Cognate with Italian fiasco, Italian fiasca and Old Occitan flascon.^[4][8] fiasque and flasque are words of the same origin.^[3][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as flascon in the Règle du Temple (about 1260), for a bottle.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

First a bottle, the word came to name a smaller container that was not cylindrical (1314) and, by 1690, certain glass vessels.^[3][7] Rabelais distinguishes the bouteille, closed with a cork, from the flacon, closed with a screw.^[5] Marmontel uses it before 1799 for the contents of a bottle.^[7]

Musset's line Qu'importe le flacon, pourvu qu'on ait l'ivresse (1832) made it stand for the container as opposed to its content.^[2][10] The technical words flaconnage (1894) and flaconnier (1907) are derived from it.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1260 – Flascon appears in the Règle du Temple.^[2][3]
• 1314 – The form flacon is recorded, for a small container.^[4][3][7]
• 1690 – Furetière records it for glass vessels.^[7][3]
• before 1799 – Marmontel uses it for the contents.^[7]
• 1832 – Musset writes Qu'importe le flacon, pourvu qu'on ait l'ivresse.^[2]
• 1894 – Flaconnage is recorded.^[3]
• 1907 – Flaconnier is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small bottle or flask, often of glass or crystal, closed with a stopper: un flacon d'eau de toilette.^[2][10][7]
2. A bottle used to package liquids, or a vessel used in a laboratory.^[10][5]
3. (obsolete) A bottle closed with a screw.^[10][5]
4. (figurative) The container or form, as opposed to the content.^[10][2]

Word family

• flaconnage
• flaconnier

Related words

• fiasque
• flasque
• fiasco

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/2, 137a
7. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert